Congrats Poppy and fam!! My DD has also had some interesting (good and bad) reactions to the new baby and I'll be eager to hear all about Zoe's thought on her little brother over in I & T.
Hope you feel better soon and you are able to go home as scheduled in a few days. In the meantime try to enjoy the nice things about being in the hospital - nurses, meals taken care of, not having to care for DD etc.

Congratulations, Poppy and Poppy Family! What great news.I had a similar situation after DD was born. You are in great hands at the hospital. Lots of rest, plus I think ice cream and red meat are in order!

AFM, back from my mini-vacation (4 days at the Cape...of course, 2 were rainy, but still nice to be away). It was made a little stressful b/c at Thursday's app't, my BP was higher, so I had to come back from the Cape earlier yesterday to another BP check, now on a higher dose of meds. Fortunately it seems to have stabilized; go in on Thursday for another NST and app't.

37 weeks, 1 day for me, so realistically, baby could come at any time. Fortunately, head is still down, so that's good. The whole BP thing, plus this unknown of labor (DD was planned c-section, so I've never felt a contraction), has me a freaking out a bit; pretty good meltdown yesterday because of the nerves of it all. Fortunately DH and my parents are a phenomenal support system...just wanting the countdown to end!!

Winter - good luck getting the baby to make an appearance soon! Can't wait to hear some good news soon :)

AFM - had some upsetting appointments over the past week. At my regular appointment I was measuring 4cm small so I had to go in for a bpp yesterday and they think the baby is only 4lbs and under 10th percentile at 35w5d. Luckily everything seems to be functioning normally but they have no idea what is causing it. I have to start going twice a week for monitoring plus my regular weekly appointments and they will not let me go past 39 weeks. It seems crazy that the baby is so small because I've been following all the doctor's instructions, gained the right amount of weight, no BP issues whatsoever, and the baby is REALLY active! I am just really hoping that there is nothing seriously wrong with the baby that we won't know about until after the birth. This whole pregnancy thing is seriously scary and stressful!

cici, that's so stressful, sorry you are dealing with that. My friend with the triplets had one that had the same numbers due to things totally out of her control and is a totally healthy 2 month old. Hoping the same for your little peanut!

Cici, I can totally empathize with your worry. My DD, now 22 months, was born at about the 13th percentile for weight, and still is on the smaller side. For us it was low amniotic fluid levels and her position (she was frank breech from about 28 weeks on, never moved!) that they attributed it to. But at 22 months, she is happy and going through all of the developmental stuff as she should, and in this pregnancy, everything has been completely different. Of course, I've also been much more closely monitored this time, in case there was something else going one that they could attribute her "Intra-Uterine Growth Restriction" to (talk about another layer of guilt when you read that diagnosis!), but this baby at 34 weeks was already measuring bigger than DD was at birth at 38 weeks.

I felt tremendous guilt about it until I met with a perinatologist for this pregnancy. I kept hearing how small DD was, and I brought that up at my first app't. She was 5lbs, 7 oz and 17.5 inches at birth; the perinatologist, who deals with much higher risk babies and super-premies, assured me that being on the growth chart at all means she was doing great. It was the first time I was able to let that guilt about what I could have done differently go...and by then she was about 19 months old!

Try to stay positive! You're almost to the end of the road here and I'll be sending good thoughts your way!!!

HI everyone- It has taken me a few days to get away to a computer, which didn't involve contacting short term disability or work related issues, to post our exciting news... DD arrived a tad early on the 14th. Although everyone promised an easier and more rapid delivery (DS took 48 hours exactly), it was almost 36 hours of labor, and still involved pitocin after my labor stopped when I was 4 cm dialated. However, she emerged completely healthy, no need for peds, so I got to hold her immediately and DH got to cut the cord. totally worth every minute! She was a lot lighter than was expected based on the imaging- only 8 lbs, 9 ounces, but was 20 inches long. It turned out I had a ton of fluid that wasn't picked up on imaging- and most of my labor was completely ineffective because of that. Once they broke my water, I went 5 cm and 3 stations in about 90 minutes.

Overall we are doing pretty well. DS faired ok with the grandparents- he is still a bit anxious about me even going to the bathroom (which quite frankly, needs to be private for another week or two so that he doesn't completely freak out!) but he is super at being a "big brother helper" with diaper changes and such. She has gotten onto a nice feeding schedule, and my milk is in so her weight is rebounding. she has been diagnosed with jaundice, which has involved a bunch of not so fun blood draws, but I think we may be done with that tomorrow.

hang in there- to the ladies due soon. cici- there is so much out of your control during pregnancy- just keep doing your best, that is really all you can do. Luv- hang in there!! sorry to hear about the hypertension, but at least it is only at the very end!

Congrats, Winter, and good luck with these first few weeks of parenting to two. I think we'll have to set up a separate thread/support group for all of us in the next few weeks!!! :)

Tomarra, sorry about the loss in your family; I can empathize on the little brother factor, since my little sister just left to move cross country this weekend. It is tough, especially the timing!

Scary to think that I might be next on the list! 38 weeks today, and just back from my final growth ultrasound and all looked good. Baby is head down, facing the right way, and estimated weight (even though I know it can be way off) is 6 lbs, 14 oz, which is 1.5 lbs bigger than DD was at birth. So we are now officially just waiting for something to happen.

Winter - congratulations!!! Hope you are recovering nicely and DS is getting used to the new arrival!

Thanks everyone for the good thoughts. Luv, it does sound a lot like your DD. I'm hoping the baby is just small and completely healthy.

Tomarra - sorry to hear you are going through such a difficult time. It is so hard to cope with the loss of a loved one while pregnant. Take some time for yourself.

I guess it could either be Luv or me that goes next. So scary! At my BPP on Friday, they said that my fluid was at the low end of normal and the placenta is looking iffy so even though I'm only 36.5 weeks, it could be as early as tomorrow if my next BPP shows things are on the decline. We are totally unprepared - the carseat is not even installed! We're trying to wrap up all the loose ends asap because this baby could join us so much sooner than we were expecting.

thanks everyone and congrats Winter! what an ordeal - 32 hours! I'm sure you are glad that is over! Of course, now the *real* work begins... ;) Not sure how anyone else feels, but i definitely need a "1 to 2 kid" support group - it's a challenge! Barely a moment to do anything but attend to one of them. Not that it's bad, just different. I thought I was busy before!

Luv - great to hear baby is still head down and everything's looking ready to go! I'm sure it will be a bit nerve wracking to have to just sit and wait now, but I'm so glad you'll get the opportunity to try a VBAC.

Cici - I'm sorry to hear about the stress you're dealing with right now. I've known several babies born three weeks early who were and are absolutely fine, no interventions of any kind needed. I'm sure it's not what you imagined happening, though, so I can imagine it's not easy news to hear. If it makes you feel any better, I had a scheduled c-section and my carseat wasn't even in before I went to the hospital! my SIL installed it the day before I brought baby home.

Been trying to keep up with the posts! Hope everyone else is doing well!

Cici, as you know, babies born anywhere from 37 - 42 weeks are considered full term so while you have to worry earlier about getting that carseat ready, try not to worry about the baby being ready. 40 weeks is the average, not to be confused with the ideal gestation time.

Good luck Cici and Luv! Can't wait to hear your news! Cici, both my babies came early, my first came at 37 wks and my second was 10 days early. No problems with either one. It actually worked out great bc I know the last two weeks of pregnancy are brutal!
AFM, DD#2 is two and a half weeks old and I totally agree with you Poppy that going from 1-2 kids is tough. I had to do bedtime routine for DD #1 on my own tonight bc DH is at the Pats game and halfway through DD#2 started crying and when I went to get her she was hungry again. So I ended up breast feeding one daughter while reading a goodnight story to the other - it was tough. I'd join a support group with you Poppy! (Maybe this discussion is better suited for I&T...)
In terms of recovery, I'm also having a tougher time than I did with my first pregancy. I had a tear and it's still pretty sore making it hard to do much with DD when we do have 1:1 time other than activities that allow me to sit down, which is challenging because DD loves to play outside. But we are all doing ok!

Just wanted to chime in and say CONGRATS to rama, poppy and winter on their new little ones! So exciting. Glad to hear everyone is doing well. Hang in there cici - a baby a little on the small side isn't necessarily bad. Just being on the growth curve is a big deal - everyone can't be right in the middle - that's why it is a bell curve in the first place. Speaking as a mom of a premie, my DD was 4lbs 9oz and is growing and thriving at 2 years old. Nobody would ever know she started out so small - she is a bundle of energy and super strong! Good luck on the upcoming arrival of your baby!

Cici.. just as an idea... if you do end up with a LO on the low end of the growth curve, consider renting a baby scale for a few months. My DD had issues gaining weight in the beginning and we were going into the pedi 2 x's per week for what seemed like forever for weigh ins until they were comfortable with her weight gain. Never mind the $20 copay, I just hated bringing her into the office with other sick kids in the waiting room. When she was 6 weeks I finally rented a scale and told them I would weigh her daily and call if she stalled or lost weight. I should have done that weeks earlier.

Congrats to the new mamas! I can't even imagine having a newborn with a toddler around. I know some stuff is easier the second time around, but physical recovery and a newborn's need to eat constantly don't change whether it is your 2nd or 5th.

Thanks everyone for the good thoughts! I am more nervous about having such a tiny baby and any potential problems with the baby that caused the small size than the baby being a little early. Just that I was fully planning to go at least a week past my due date so we're in a bit of a rush to get everything ready. We had a pretty good BPP this afternoon so it looks like baby should hopefully be staying put at least until my next appointment when I'll be 37 weeks. We won't get any more measurements until next week, assuming that everything looks ok up until then. Hopefully the baby will be a growing machine until then :) I never thought I'd be praying for a 5lb baby! Boston - great idea! Thanks for the tip! Rama - ouch! I really hope the healing process speeds up so you're not in so much pain.

Hope all the new mamas are doing well! How is everyone else doing? I think there are only 3 (Luv, LCG, and me) of us coming up in the next few weeks and then kind of a gap until Tomarra? Sorry if I'm missing someone!